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If you read travel websites about Barcelona they will often talk about it being the "pickpocket capital of Europe" or at least about how pickpockets are a major concern.

However, in the last 5-10 years the amount of cash people carry has declined. Mostly to almost zero and we just use cards.

Mobile phones have become less appealing to steal as you have the ability to brick them remotely if you find it has been stolen. People no longer really carry huge DSLR cameras as they just use phones, as well.

Hence, is pickpocketing still an issue in Barcelona given that people don't carry valuables anymore? If so what valuables should I be looking to protect?

Rodrigo de Azevedo
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User1
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3 Answers3

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Based on spending months in Barcelona, pickpockets still are an issue in the city. Anywhere that tourists congregate in Barcelona — on La Rambla walking street, in front of Sagrada Familia cathedral, on the beach in Barceloneta, and in the metro, for example — pickpockets inevitably are at work.

Of course, this is not a problem only in Barcelona; it is not uncommon in other locations that also have a large number of tourists. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities — it certainly is one of the world's best for walking — but it also is a statistical reality that there are more pickpockets in Barcelona than there are in plenty of other places that also have many tourists and people.

The reasons for pickpockets in Barcelona are numerous. It is a largely affluent city with pockets of not insignificant poverty (El Raval, for example), receives millions of tourists a year (including tourists from cruise ships that may only be visiting the city for a few hours), and Spain has long had very high unemployment rates.

Perhaps most notably, though, the historic penalties for getting caught as a pickpocket in Barcelona were negligible (theft less than €400 was barely a crime). There reportedly was a change in the law this summer to make prosecution of repeat offenders more likely, which may help, but the statistics have not changed much yet:

According to police figures, between January and the end of May this year there were 34,000 thefts reported in the city, around 225 per day. So not quite the 12 per hour of 2018, but not far off, averaging just over nine per hour.

By comparison, London has roughly 127 reported pickpockets a day and it is a much larger city. It might not be fair to label Barcelona the pickpocket "Capital of Europe" — a lot more data would be needed to really verify such a title — but it definitely does have a lot of pickpockets.

Although Covid substantially reduced cash usage around the world, southern Europe still has much higher rates of cash use than northern Europe — 53% of transactions in Spain are in cash — so there still is plenty of cash that can be stolen in Barcelona.

Payment cards, passports and IDs, jewelry, watches, personal electronics, designer bags and luggage itself also remain targets of theft. Cards commonly can be used for some small transactions before being disabled. Identity documents can be resold and often combined with stolen online information for identity theft by transnational crime syndicates. Jewelry, watches, designer goods, and at least some personal electronics still have plenty of resale value in the hands of sophisticated criminals, as well.

If the risk of a penalty is close to zero — as it long has been for being a pickpocket in Barcelona — the reward is greater than zero, and the alternative very well could be unemployment (zero), it doesn't take much of a return on investment for an activity to continue.

It is best to keep the answer specific to Barcelona — and the areas mentioned are the most precise advice that can be provided — but to protect yourself, not carrying much in the way of valuables is a good first step. It also is smart to not wear flashy clothing, jewelry, or watches and be aware of your surroundings and cautious of your belongings regardless of their value when in Barcelona.

travelgasm
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  • As well as having to be aware and cautious in any other place where there are many tourists (or people in general.) – Willeke Oct 24 '22 at 16:09
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    @Willeke I love Barcelona very much; it is one of my favorite cities. However, it is a statistical reality that there are more pickpockets in Barcelona than there are in plenty of other places that also have many tourists and people. You certainly are correct that it is wise to pay attention anywhere. However, for example, London has roughly 127 reported pickpockets a day and it is a much larger city. – travelgasm Oct 25 '22 at 00:53
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    This doesn't seem to fully answer the question (unless you're suggesting that pickpocketing has become essentially a recreational activity where financial return is irrelevant). No matter how low the penalty, there must be some minimum reward to make pickpocketing worthwhile compared to other activities. ... – nanoman Oct 25 '22 at 07:00
  • ... I think OP is noting a decline in fungible possessions and asking: what items actually deliver the bulk of the profit to pickpockets nowadays? Is it the occasional person who still has a lot of cash (stroke of luck for the pickpocket) and makes up for those with little or none? Or are the pickpockets mainly targeting people with some visible indication of carrying a lucrative item, and what do those items tend to be? – nanoman Oct 25 '22 at 07:01
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    @nanoman The question was... in Barcelona specifically is pickpocketing still a problem even though people don't carry as much cash. The answer — based on personal observation and statistical data — is yes. Pickpocketing still continues at roughly the same rate regardless of any changes in carried items. Spain has long had very high unemployment. If the risk of a penalty is close to zero, the reward is greater than zero, and the alternative is unemployment (zero), it doesn't take much of an ROI for an activity to continue. – travelgasm Oct 25 '22 at 08:09
  • I thought I had read about the laws in Barcelona being relaxed around pickpocketing which is why it initially became a hotspot but I couldnt remember if I'd read I'd read it or made it up. And I definitely didnt know about the law changing Thanks for the links and info – User1 Oct 25 '22 at 12:26
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    For what it's worth, @User1, I lived in Barcelona from 2002 to 2010, and although I can confirm that pick-pocketing was very, very common, it was also quite easy to defend against. As long as you were a little careful (always have your bag in your sight, preferably using its straps to attach it to your chair and things like that), you wouldn't have any issue. Neither I nor any of my friends were ever targeted but they do tend to go for tourists. Either way, although a nuisance, it wasn't something we thought about much. We just developed some good habits and went about our day. – terdon Oct 25 '22 at 16:33
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Not to take anything from the excellent, accepted answer, but I'd question the OP's assumption that pickpockets are only interested in cash.

A few years back, my wife's purse was taken from her handbag in the British Museum. She lost some fifty pounds in cash, but the first we knew about any of it was when she got a call from her bank. The thief had done a fast tour of all the local convenience stores, and at each store, (s)he had bought £20-30 of alcohol and cigarettes on each contactless card my wife had in her purse (both debit and credit). The total loss on cards was very much larger than the cash loss, although of course it was reimbursed by the bank (debit cards) or simply cancelled (credit cards).

The thief will have resold those goods at a substantial markdown, but I'm pretty sure a good crop of contactless cards is at least as valuable to a thief as a reasonable amount of cash, moreso since the contactless transaction limit was raised to £100.

MadHatter
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    ah yes this is a very good point! I hadn't even thought about this method of turning a cahless wallet into cash quickly. Explains why even when cash usage is on the decline, pickpocketing is still rife – User1 Oct 25 '22 at 12:22
  • Also it's possible to empty people's bank accounts if you have their mobile and credit cards and they allow their mobile lockscreens to show text messages. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-62809151 – Lag Oct 25 '22 at 14:44
  • I'm wondering how the shops are affected since the purchases are now cancelled, the money returns to you and their goods were gone. Are their money lost? – phuclv Oct 25 '22 at 17:34
  • @phuclv : yes; it’s their loss. The cost of doing business. – Aganju Oct 25 '22 at 18:28
  • In most EU countries the limit on contactless payments is ~30 EUR and you can do up to 10 transactions without entering your PIN, so theoretically thieves can get away with up to 300 Euros per card. – JonathanReez Oct 25 '22 at 20:08
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    @phuclv in the UK, "All contactless payments, as with other card payments, are covered by the issuing bank in the event of fraud" (from s4.1.1 of the PDF available from the UK Banking Industry body, here, so the bank takes the hit, not the retailer. – MadHatter Oct 25 '22 at 21:16
  • also worth mentioning, in the UK contactless payment limit is 100 GBP (I'm not sure how many you can do before pin is required. I assume 10, similar to EU) – User1 Oct 26 '22 at 07:30
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    @User1 I do mention that, in the last sentence of my answer- but yes, I agree that's relevant! The tranactions-before-PIN-mandated count is set by the card issuer; I have some as low as three, and some as high as 20. Since the card issuer takes the risk of rogue use of the card, I think it's fair they can set the limit according to their appetite for risk. – MadHatter Oct 26 '22 at 07:59
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    And passports? A customs officer (Canadian) told me stolen passports fetch tidy sums on the black market, reused by forgers and illegal migrants. But this was 20-odd years ago. In that time my passports have improved a lot in anti-forge technology. Not sure about every country's... Pickpocketing is by nature an activity of chance. – frIT Oct 26 '22 at 09:36
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    And speaking of bricked mobile phones, they can still be sold for parts. – Trang Oul Oct 26 '22 at 10:10
  • Passports are probably among the most valuable things a thief can get their hands on. Yes, they're a bit harder to forge than they used to be, but that only increases the value of getting your hands on a real one. It's much easier to start with a real passport and swap out the photo than to make a convincing fake from scratch. – Darrel Hoffman Oct 26 '22 at 15:19
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    @MadHatter This experience is in NZ but I suspect the same applies. My VISA card was stolen due to astounding stupidity on the pat of a checkout operator (latterly watched on security video). The bank stopped it at about $400 and 4 transactions in 30 minutes. The bank covered the loss. During discussions a ban rep stated that they did not investigate or prosecute losses even if the miscreant was located AND that the loss was covered by insurance. ie we all pay an insurance premium to cover such losses and the bank simply manages these transactions. – Russell McMahon Oct 27 '22 at 08:40
  • @JonathanReez contactless is, since covid, max £100 in the UK (not everywhere but many places). My transactions are normally under £40 and I reckon it's considerably less than 1 in 10 that needs a PIN. – Chris H - UK Oct 27 '22 at 09:09
  • The UK government travel advice for Spain says thieves target cash and passports, and I see no reason to dispute that. Often people will carry cash on holiday, whether because they don't know how if there will be problems with card payments (especially for contactless or debit payments or in smaller bars and shops), or they don't want to leave money in an insecure hotel, or as backup in case credit cards are lost/stolen. – Stuart F Oct 27 '22 at 13:09
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As someone who's lived in Bcn for 13 years, I can confirm that it's still a problem, from seeing it for myself and first-hand reports. I know policemen and women and they have also confirmed as much.

Going off on a tangent slightly, it's true that pickpocketing is barely penalised, with repeat offenders literally getting caught each night and at most spending a night in a cell. It sounds ludicrous, and in fact, if you are a victim and you hit your thief you are more likely to get into trouble as violence is strictly penalised. But, the result is that Barcelona is generally a safe place as thieves will usually avoid confrontation and just hand back whatever they've taken if caught in the act.

CodeNovice
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